In an inelastic collision, which had the largest velocity change, the larger mass glider or the smaller mass?
The smaller mass object had the largest change in velocity. implications for automobile safety… smaller mass vehicles will suffer more extremely in automobile accidents, because their passengers undergo the more extreme accelerations than the passengers in the larger mass automobile. Both objects must finish the collision in the same amount of time, and because conservation of momentum indicates greater change in velocity for the smaller mass object, the smaller mass object undergoes the greatest acceleration.
